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Monday, September 21, 2015

Viet Cong to change name following criticism of cultural insensitivity

An art-rock band named Viet Cong had their gig canceled by a protesting group of people who were disapproving of the band’s name. The name, as some of you may know, is the same name that was used by military force that opposed US troops and Vietnam government in Vietnam War. After a prolonged discussion both with the “Vietnamese community” and between themselves, the band members decided that the name had to be changed.Over the next couple of months and after carefully considering both sides of the story, the old name was withdrawn, although new one was not yet decided upon. On 19th September, band members also issued an official statement, saying that it was never the bands intention to offend anybody or bring back painful memories of the past.

“Art and music are about creative expression. However, our band name is not our cause, and we are not going to fight for it,” they wrote. “This is not what our band is about.”

Even though the name-change has been planned for some time, the act itself is not one they had taken lightly, said the band members.

The news may disappoint Gang of Four’s Andy Gill, who came out in support of their creative decisions, saying: “We can all think of dozens of bands with really quite offensive names, and as soon as you get into being the guardian of public morality, taking it upon yourself to decide what’s OK and what is not, you’re acting in an illiberal, undemocratic and anti-progressive way.”

The group formerly known as Viet Cong said: “We don’t know what the new name of our band will be, and we owe it to our fans to honour the concerts we have booked. We rushed into our last band-name decision. We don’t plan to rush into this one, but know that will be rolling out a new name as soon as we agree upon one.”